The field of the present invention is the interior layout of an aircraft flight deck, also called aircraft cockpit or more generally the front portion of an aircraft. Of concern here are commercial aircraft, for the transport of passengers and/or goods. Such an aircraft thus conventionally comprises a front portion adapted in general to receive a pilot and a co-pilot as well as a “commercial” part disposed aft of the front portion to receive the passengers and/or goods.
In a cockpit of such an aircraft, there is thus a seat for the pilot and another seat for the co-pilot. It also occurs that a third seat is provided in the cockpit for an observer or an instructor. As this third seat is only used exceptionally, it is in general a folding seat.
A folding seat for an aircraft is described for example in document EP-0 282 541 or in document EP-0 349 762. These documents solely concern the structure of a folding seat but not its integration into an aircraft.
Document FR-2 547 273 describes an ergonomic aircraft flight deck provided for two pilots but no provision is made in the description of that document for the presence of a third (or other) member of the crew. As for document FR-2 903 661 which concerns a general structure for an aircraft, it shows in its FIG. 5 an example of a layout for a flight deck of an aircraft for three persons. Document FR-2 900 634 also shows a flight deck with three seats, but for an aircraft essentially for military use. In a military aircraft, the technical and economic constraints are different in many respects compared with the constraints encountered for production of a civil aircraft for commercial use.